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As we all know, baseball players love to tip their caps to their opponents. We don't often do that around Minor Lines, focussed as we are on the Giants highlights, but I hate to miss out on such a crucial aspect of the baseball experience, so how about a tip of the cap to Fightin' Phil SS KC Serna:
And since turnabout is fair play, how about they tip their cap to our guy, too:
HIGHLIGHTS: Chris Stratton went 8 strong innings. Kelby Tomlinson had 2 more hits and 2 more SB. Brian Ragira went 4 for 4. Johneshwy Fargas reached base 3x and stole his 20th and 21st bases of the year. Raymundo Montero K'd 5 of 11 batters in 3.2 perfect innings.
Sacramento lost at Colorado Springs (Brewers), 8-3
|
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
BA |
|
3b |
Casey McGehee |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.188 |
|
LF |
Adam Duvall |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
.302 |
|
RF |
Jarrett Parker |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
.282 |
|
1b |
John Bowker |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.252 |
|
P |
Ty Blach |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.267 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
|
Ty Blach, L, 4-5 |
6.0 |
11 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3.82 |
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Excited for the opportunity to pitch back home in Colorado tonight in front of family and friends! Looking forward to seeing everyone!</p>— Ty Blach (@tyblach) <a href="https://twitter.com/tyblach/status/604355308715036672">May 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Following an hour's rain delay, Ty's home coming was actually going along swimmingly until he hit the iceburg in the 6th inning. Hurt by two errors in the inning (from McGehee and Bowker), Blach surrendered six runs on five hits and a walk(!) in the inning. The big blow, and final hit, of the inning was Donnie Murphy's two-run HR. He had earlier surrendered a HR to Scooter Gennett (who I thought was still the Brewers 2b). According to the box score, none of the runs were earned, thanks to McGehee's fielding error, although I have to say my reading of that inning says the first run should have been earned, since two of the first three batters doubled and singled. The inning turned Blach's final line somewhat ugly and hung him with the loss.
Sacramento hitters managed only 8 hits in the launching pad of Colorado Springs, including two doubles and John Bowker's 2 run HR. Bowkermania FTW!
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Also note that between Ty Blach and Chris Stratton (below) the Giants SP went 3 for 6 at the plate on the day. Way to swing it guys!
Richmond won at Reading (Phillies), 5-2
|
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
BA |
|
2b |
Kelby Tomlinson |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
.331 |
|
LF |
Devin Harris |
5 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
.305 |
|
1b |
Ricky Oropesa |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
.275 |
|
3b |
Mitch Delfino |
4 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.259 |
|
CF |
Daniel Carbonell |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.162 |
|
P |
Chris Stratton |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.250 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
|
Chris Stratton, W 1-5 |
8.0 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4.14 |
|
Josh Osich, S, 10 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.64 |
Kelby Tomlinson has now had multi-hit games 10 times in the past 13 games. Over that period he's hitting .423/.467/.481. Amazingly, his .948 OPS over those 13 games is only 3rd on his team behind Oropesa's 1.000 OPS and Devin Harris' 1.022. (It's been a pretty incredible couple of weeks, actually. Ehire Adrianza, Hunter Cole, Ryan Lollis, Cristian Paulino, and Jarrett Parker also have OPS over 1.000 in that time, not to mention Brandon Belt's 1.200). Richmond put up a 13 hit attack (plus 2 bbs) vs Reading starter Ben Lively, who was acquired in the offseason from Cincinnati for Marlon Byrd. Reading helpfully puts together a video game recap, so we can see all the highlights from this one:
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Chris Stratton has now turned in back to back fine outings. This one was his longest stint in AA, and in fact was tied for his longest outing as a pro (he went 8 innings once in Augusta in 2013). He was extremely efficient with his pitches, throwing 62 of 93 for strikes and was rarely in any kind of trouble. The two runs he allowed came on a groundout and a WP. Excellent night for Chris.
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Things are going so well in Richmond these days, they even won this thing:
We are the champions! Your Squirrels are winners of @BaseballAmerica Logomania! Thank you, #RVA for your support! pic.twitter.com/w40NB7A0Lz
— Squirrels Baseball (@GoSquirrels) May 29, 2015
San Jose lost at High Desert (Rangers), 10-5
losing the series, 1-2
|
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
BA |
|
RF |
Hunter Cole |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.336 |
|
3b |
Ryder Jones |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
.292 |
|
C |
Ty Ross |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.211 |
|
1b |
Brian Ragira |
4 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.205 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
|
Martin Agosta, L, 1-3 |
4.2 |
14 |
9 |
7 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5.55 |
|
Jeff Soptic |
2.1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3.32 |
|
Daniel Slania |
1.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2.05 |
The two teams pounded out 27 hits in this one including 9 XBH. Unfortunately, High Desert had 16 of those hits and 6 of those XBH, including three HRs. High Desert is known for a howling wind blowing out continuously that jet streams fly balls out of the yard with regularity. One might figure that a line drive oriented, singles-hitting team might struggle in this environment and by and large that was true for the Giants in this series, as they got outscored in the final two games 7-22. They had surrendered only 18 runs in their previous 8 games combined (all wins). Brian Ragira had by far his best game of the year, with the four hit night. As Joe Ritzo reminds us, he was in just about this same position last year at this time:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Was hitting .199 on June 1 last year - finished at .260 w/20 HR's. Four hits today gets him up to .205 this season. <a href="https://t.co/0BcHFprxpR">https://t.co/0BcHFprxpR</a></p>— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeRitzo/status/604546771373588480">May 30, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Also, Hunter Cole continues to take offense at my "no power" comment.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">With a home run tonight, Hunter Cole now has three HR's in his last five gms. Is fourth in Cal League in AVG (.336) and third in OBP (.403).</p>— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeRitzo/status/604547701259132928">May 30, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Martin Agosta took the beat down in this one, surrendering 14 hits and 9 runs in less than 5 innings of work. Since his return to the rotation he hadn't surrendered more than 2 runs in any of his appearances.
Augusta won at Ashville (Rockies), 5-1
|
|
Name |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
BA |
|
CF |
Johneshwy Fargas |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
.306 |
|
3b |
Jonah Arenado |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.269 |
|
1b |
Skyler Ewing |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
.185 |
|
2b |
Will Callaway |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.266 |
|
DH |
John Riley |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
.221 |
|
C |
Matt Pare |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.167 |
|
Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
HB |
WP |
ERA |
|
Jose Reyes, W, 4-1 |
5.1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.36 |
|
Raymundo Montero, S, 5 |
3.2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.44 |
Fargas reached base three times and stole two more bases (21), but behind him most of the rest of the team continues to struggle at the bat. Will Callaway was the only other Greenjacket to reach base twice. Matt Pare, who was recently reassigned from SJ (to cover for Aramis Garcia's DL stint) hit a big 2 run HR in the 9th to make a tight game a little easier. Lots of the Augusta hitters have had tough May's but none more so than John Riley, who's hard hitting April has dissolved into a .160/.288/.240 May. That 30% K rate just can't be sustained successfully, John.
Jose Reyes once again was without his K stuff, and his control wasn't exactly at its best either as he handed out more free passes than hits. But he continued to baffle Sally hitters enough to keep them off the barrel of the bat and mostly off the scoreboard. Raymundo Montero had a fantastic relief appearance as he was perfect through 3.2 and K'd 5 of the 11 hitters he faced. Montero has a K rate above 35% on the season, and a K9 over 12. In 30.1 IP this year he has a 41:7 K:BB.
Before we go, let's join Augusta for #FlashBackFriday. Check out this fresh faced kid!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A young <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MadBum?src=hash">#MadBum</a> in his GreenJackets days. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlashBackFriday?src=hash">#FlashBackFriday</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CatchTheBuzz?src=hash">#CatchTheBuzz</a> <a href="http://t.co/KLvc1C4rAF">pic.twitter.com/KLvc1C4rAF</a></p>— Augusta GreenJackets (@GreenJackets) <a href="https://twitter.com/GreenJackets/status/604379597589893121">May 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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First five team schedule today as the DSL begins its league. Scheduled starters include Clayton Blackburn and Tyler Beede.
Final note: There was an excellent piece on MiLB yesterday on the change of pace rules in the minors this year (which includes a pitch clock). I recommend reading it in general, but it also includes a lot of quotes from Richmond manager Jose Alguacil, who has some interesting things to say about the pace that the Giants try to develop in their players.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As part of <a href="https://twitter.com/SamDykstraMiLB">@SamDykstraMiLB</a>'s piece, a player & a manager discuss their perception of changes: <a href="http://t.co/1j1L31RRtK">http://t.co/1j1L31RRtK</a> <a href="http://t.co/9DavhLthFg">pic.twitter.com/9DavhLthFg</a></p>— MiLB.com (@MiLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiLB/status/604311389377679360">May 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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